Chapter 7 – “Positive Campaign (Younger Brother Mark) Second Half”

When I finally got to the fields of the village. I couldn’t help but be stunned by the sight, for there was a field that had been ravaged to the point that it was barely intact.

My brother told me that he just got a little carried away and went wild with his body-enhancing magic, but what part of this was a little?

The amount of destruction was about 30 to 40 percent of the total size of the field, but if it was done by my seven-year-old brother, I would be astonished in another way.

I could see a dozen or so villagers working hard in the fields, but the air itself somehow seemed heavy.

I thought that they probably lost their motivation because the field they had worked so hard to cultivate was ruined in just a short time, so I decided to take action to improve the situation.

“Hello. Can I have a moment?”

“What can I do for you?”

“I heard that my brother caused you a lot of trouble the other day. I am not trying to apologize for that, but I would like to help you with your work in the fields.”

“T-that’s…….”

The reaction of the villagers was not very positive, and there was an air of annoyance around them. With the family of the person who had ruined the farm, it was no wonder that there was an ill feeling that the farm would be ruined as well.

I knew that my brother had deliberately destroyed the field in order to undermine his position, but even if I knew that, it would make no difference to the villagers that the fruits of their hard work had been ruined.

Somehow suppressing the urge to tell them the truth, I gave a gentle smile and bowed my head in request. The guards who followed me and the villagers flustered at my actions.

“Please. Will you give me a chance to atone for the misbehavior my brother has done?”

“Y-young master, you don’t have to do anything like that. ……”

“P-please raise your head! I understand. This way, then.”

I somehow managed to earnestly ask him to do so, and he finally nodded. The guards didn’t look convinced, but they understood that I wanted to do this, so they didn’t interfere in any way. When the villagers guided me to the edge of the field, they hand over the hoe that was leaning against the tree.

“Then please use this hoe.”

“Thank you. Well, here we go.”

I invoked the magic that my brother taught me to strengthen my body and started plowing the field with great momentum. The momentum was tremendous, and in the blink of an eye, beautiful rows were forming in the ravaged field.

At first, they were just dumbfounded by what was happening, but by the time they began to understand the situation, two-thirds of the ravaged field had already been restored to its original state.

When the villagers began to gather around to see what was going on and a bit of a commotion began to break out, the ravaged field was completely restored.

The villagers who had been watching were so surprised that they started to make a fuss. The village chief and my father who noticed the noise also came to the field.

“Quiet! What the hell is all this?”

“T-that’s….”

While the villagers who were working in the field were stumped as to how to explain the situation, I walked up to my father and explained the situation.

“Father, I offered to help them and plowed the fields. I felt it was wrong of me to do so, but I couldn’t bear to leave what my Malbert family had done, so I did what I could to help.”

“Oh, my God, the field is back to normal. What’s going on!?”

“Mark, did you do that?”

“Yes, was that unnecessary?”

“No, no it wasn’t, but ……”

At first, the village chief and my father looked disturbed by the testimonies of the villagers and my words, but when they realized the truth, their expressions changed to one of astonishment and confusion.

They couldn’t hide his amazement at the fact that I, a mere five years old, had completed in the blink of an eye a task that would have taken a dozen or more adult days to complete.

This should have fixed everything that my brother had done in this village, but was this really the right thing to do?

When I was thinking about this, my father asked me with a serious expression.

“Mark, can you use body-enhancement magic?”

“Yes.”

My brother had instructed me that if I was ever seen using magic, I had to admit that I could. When I asked him why, he replied that it was nothing to hide and that the fact that I was able to use body-enhancing magic at my age would not be a bad thing, even if it was an honor for a noble family.

As soon as I admitted that I could use the magic to strengthen my body, my father walked over to me and unexpectedly picked me up in his arms.

“That’s great, Mark!”

“T-thank you so much.”

For a while after that, my father continued to dance around with me in his arms. I wanted to tell him that I was able to use the magic to strengthen my body because of my brother’s guidance, but it was a secret that my brother had taught me all the knowledge and skills I needed to become a lord. So, I just kept silent and continued to be held by my father.

“Thank you very much for this one, Mark-sama. Now we can grow our crops as planned.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was originally intended to deal with the misbehavior of our family members.”

“… Mark-sama”

While the village chief and other villagers marveled at my words, my father, who had regained his composure, opened his mouth.

“Village chief. Now there is no problem even if the tax is not reduced.”

“T-that’s…”

It was pointed out that we didn’t have to lower the tax rate because I restored the fields, and while the village chief stagnated, I made a proposal to my father.

“Father, if I may?”

“What is it, Mark?”

“This case started with the failure of our Marbert family. Also, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go back on a promise that was once made just because the situation has changed.”

“Hmm.”

“What do you think? How about we lower the tax rate as promised, as a way of apologizing this time? I’m sure that lowering the tax a bit won’t worsen the finances of Malbert’s territory.”

“Yeah, let’s do what you say.”

The village chief also looked relieved when my father declared so.

Now that I had finished what my brother had instructed me to do in this village, I tell my father that I will return back to the mansion, greet the village chief, and left the place with my guards.

As I was leaving, all I could hear was, “I still prefer Mark over Roland.”